A Bossa Bigwig, Back From Brazil

By

Marc Myers

Updated May 17, 2011 12:01 am ET

Back in 1966, the Brazilian singer-songwriter Marcos Valle had to be restrained from taking a swing at Marlon Brando. The actor had grabbed Mr. Valle's then wife at a Hollywood party and propositioned her. "The funny thing is, Brando never stopped playing the bongos through the whole thing," Mr. Valle said recently from his home in Rio de Janeiro.

At the time, Mr. Valle was touring the U.S. following the success of his hit song "Summer Samba (So Nice)." He also hoped to follow on the heels of bossa nova sensation Antonio Carlos Jobim and remain in America, an aspiration he eventually cut short.

Brazilian bossa nova star Marcos Valle is in the U.S. this week for a rare New York appearance at Birdland.
Patrícia Alví

This week, Mr. Valle, 67 years old, is back for a rare New York appearance at Birdland with the legendary Brazilian vocalist Wanda Sá. He'll have in his arsenal nearly 600 original bossa nova melodies to choose from, including early classics of the genre and his late-'90s bossa-chill material that became popular at clubs around the world.

Over the years, Mr. Valle's melodies have been recorded by dozens of American pop and jazz artists, and he is easily the most influential and prolific artist among the so-called second generation of Brazilian singer-songwriters. "Antonio Carlos Jobim, Luiz Bonfá and João Gilberto were older than me and already famous in Rio by the time I started composing in the early '60s," he said.

Mr. Valle's debut album, "Samba Demais," was released in Brazil in 1964 just as worldwide infatuation with bossa nova was surging. On his second, 1965's "O Compositor e O Cantor," he included "Samba de Verão"—or "Summer Samba," with Portuguese lyrics written by his brother Paul. After Brazilian organist Walter Wanderley recorded the song in the U.S. as an instrumental in 1966, it reached No. 26 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. "English lyrics were added by Norman Gimbel, and my career changed," Mr. Valle said.

By then, Mr. Jobim had become a bossa nova star in America with "The Girl From Ipanema," "Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars" and other hits. "Jobim had been in my shoes just a few years earlier and told me the steps I needed to take to capitalize on 'Summer Samba,'" Mr. Valle recalled.

A U.S. tour that began in 1966 wound up spanning two years and included a "Summer Samba" duet in 1967 with Andy Williams on the singer's TV show. While in Hollywood, Mr. Valle, who was 21 at the time, and his 18-year-old wife, Anamaria, were invited to a party attended by many film and music industry stars. The couple performed a few songs, and when they decided to leave Mr. Valle walked to the front door with his hosts. That's when Brando grabbed Anamaria's arm.

"When Anamaria caught up to me, she said, 'Do you know what that SOB Brando just did?' So I headed back in his direction to hit him. But the host and other people grabbed me, telling me he was drunk and to forget about it."

After he and Anamaria recorded "Samba '68" in the U.S. for Verve Records, they decided to return to friends and family in Rio rather than extend their stay and continue recording. "I was used to an easy way of life in Brazil," Mr. Valle said. "The rigidity of the professional music business in the U.S. was difficult to deal with."

He certainly continued recording in Brazil, though, churning out 40 albums in the years since, including "Nova Bossa Nova" in 1997, a bossa-techno fusion that helped kick off a Brazilian-lounge craze. "I was invited to appear in Europe and found a new young and energetic audience standing and cheering my songs," he said. His most recent album, "Estática," was released last year.

Given Mr. Valle's success in Brazil and the popularity of his songs in the States, would his name be better known here today had he not departed in 1968? "If I could go back in time to 1968, with the experience and confidence I have today, I would have stayed longer," he said. "But back then, I was young and shy."

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